It was a swell romance. For more than a decade, the leaders of the anti-tax, anti-government movement got nothing but sloppy kisses from voters in Colorado, home of the most restrictive tax-limitation law in the nation.

For Republican political hopefuls, the so-called Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights became the ultimate litmus test. It was support it or get laughed off the stage at the state party convention.

All that ended Tuesday.

The best indication that the movement has been eclipsed by cautious pragmatism is not the surprising statewide support for Referendum C and the rejection of the anti-tax sloganeering from its opponents. It’s the vote in El Paso County.

In 1992, voters there endorsed TABOR by a 2-to-1 ratio. On Tuesday, 47 percent of them supported a five-year timeout from TABOR refunds that will provide $3.7 billion more for the state general fund. Similarly, in the Republican stronghold of Douglas County, 48 percent of voters supported C.

For Colorado State University political science professor John Straayer, that can mean only one thing: “The anti-government, anti-tax mantra and the folks who are behind that are getting a little close to the end of their string.”

Sooner or later, it had to happen.

“It’s one thing to call for economies and efficiencies and to pare government to a minimum,” Straayer said. “It’s another to push that perspective to the point of depriving people of the institutions and services they expect from government.”

Everybody likes the idea of getting something for nothing, he explained. But in the post-Katrina era, the prospect of actually getting nothing doesn’t sit so well.

State Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, agreed.

He traveled the state campaigning for Referendums C and D, which he helped craft in the legislature last spring, and it was clear to him that cynicism wasn’t playing well with the voters anymore.

“We heard a great deal of very disturbing hyperbole from the other side about how politicians all are dishonest … that the people we’ve elected to represent us can’t be trusted,” he said. “But people realize that without a level of trust in our institutions, no society can go forward.”

Republicans should have realized this was coming when voters gave Democrats a majority in both houses of the legislature for the first time in 30 years, he said.

“People have been pressuring the legislature to solve the budget problem for the past two years. They changed the party composition of the legislature largely because of this issue.”

Johnson said he thinks “we have to give the voters credit. They were smart.”

Even the rejection of Referendum D, which would have authorized the state to borrow money for roads and other projects, reveals a level of sophistication that’s to be admired, he said. “They want the state to recover from the recession, but they’re really not wild about extending the state financially.”

It’s clear the Republican Party has to come to grips with the reality that people want action, not just tax cuts.

Conservative columnist David Brooks of The New York Times calls the trend “progressive conservatism” and suggests that embracing it could spark a much- needed revival of the Republican Party.

With that in mind, Straayer said, the prospects for Gov. Bill Owens, who was clobbered by party stalwarts for supporting C and D, should improve dramatically in the aftermath of the election. “He flavored his long-standing fiscal conservatism with a good dose of pragmatism.”

In contrast, Bob Beauprez and Marc Holtzman end up looking like political dinosaurs – or at least obstructionists.

“This creates a real dilemma for both Republican gubernatorial candidates,” Johnson said. “They were both out of touch with the voters, and that worries me. I think we need a Republican candidate who is willing to step up and solve the biggest problem facing the state.”

Step up or get out of the way, that’s the choice.

In Colorado, it’s a new day.

Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.

More in News

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats on Friday introduced a resolution to block the national emergency declaration that President Donald Trump issued to fund his long-sought wall along the U.S-Mexico border.

What do you do in a rental market where seemingly every new apartment building is offering a boatload of amenities and high-end finishes? If you're Charleston, S.C.-based apartment developer Greystar you double down and build an extra luxury project.